We flew in on Thurs night and went to the Tommy Bahama restaurant in St Armand's Circle. We all had a cocktail or two plus dinner. My cocktail was a basil grapefruit martini. I wasn't sure if I'd love it or not, but I do love basil, so I thought I'd try it. It was wonderful. B and I are going to try to recreate it this summer. If you ever see one on a menu, I would highly recommend. We all went back to the condo after dinner and crashed.
The next morning (Fri), J made breakfast and then we all went for a run together. It was about 3.2 miles and by the time we were home, the boys immediately went to jump in the pool. E and I showered, the boys came back to shower, and we all went back down to St. Armand's Circle for lunch at Cha Cha Coconuts. YUM! The food was great all around, drinks were flowing, and we were sitting in the sun where it was warm! We stopped in a few stores (including the Lilly store) and made our way home to relax by the pool for a few hours. That night we went to a local stone crab restaurant which couldn't have been more delicious. We then went to Euphema Hay for dessert (best key lime pie I have ever had- ever!) and then to Club 51 in St. Armand's for a cocktail. We didn't know it was Latin night when we walked in, but we soon realized that watching the dancing was going to be the highlight of our weekend. I have never seen anything like it. There were a few professionals there, but most were just there to dance. We all danced a bit (terribly!) and had a ball. I loved it and hope someday to take salsa lessons. B is a really good dancer, so he'd totally go along with me!
Saturday we went for a long walk along the beach, had lunch down at The Colony, and layed by the pool. J went fishing off the pier for awhile but didn't catch anything. Before the sun went down, we cracked a bottle of champagne and went to the beach for pics. We all love champagne, so it was a great way to enjoy the perfect sunset. We then went to The Columbia for dinner and sangria. Again, nothing but delicious food. We all ate so well!! We came home that night after dinner (around 11 or so), had a nightcap, and went to bed. In the morning we got up, were lazy, and then flew out around 1 p.m. It was an amazing, amazing weekend and we were so thankful they decided to do that for our wedding gift. We spend a lot of time with B's cousins, even though only A lives in Chicago with us, and love them dearly, so it was nice to get away with them to a warmer climate for a long weekend!!
Here are some pics from Saturday night :
A pelican in really good lighting!
J looking handsome
J and E (E is B's cousin)
B and I
A and E (brother and sister)
E and I
The group before sunset
You have to email me! My hubby is from 'up north' in Michigan!!! His town is the smallest I've ever seen! I'm a city girl and my jaw just dropped when I saw it for the first time! ;) It's definitely full of cottages and my hubby has beautiful lake property in the area. I adore summers up there! I'd love to know if we're talking about the same little MI town. :)
ReplyDeletePS- This was in reference to your previous post. And I'm SO at TJ maxx tomorrow- thanks for the heads up!
I love Longboat Key and St. Armand's! My grandma has a condo there and I love how much it really hasn't changed in all the years we've been going there.
ReplyDeleteLOVE your blog!!
ReplyDeleteI found your blog from TCP's blog. So cute!
ReplyDeleteYour post was so nostalgic for me. I grew up vacationing on Siesta Key and so shopping and dining at St. Armand's was always on our list. My mom bought a Columbia cookbook once just to get the black bean soup recipe. And when I was on spring break in college with friends, we had many cocktails at Cha Cha Coconuts! My favorite restaurant is actually the Old Salty Dog. There's one on Longboat and one on Siesta and I love to sit and eat on the patio and watch the boats come in and out. So beautiful. I really miss it this time of year and am vowing to go next spring!
Your pix were so cute - looks so festive having champagne on the beach!